The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space

Journeys on the Caledonian Road
visually it’s amazing. I don’t willfully photograph skips, but that one struck
me as extraordinary.
This was Tesco’s and is still a supermarket, but of its own kind,
which is in the process of turning itself into “student hostel with supermarket
below.” Part of the design seems to have been to put in regularly spaced
windows on the street face, and it’s been my pleasure for about a month to
witness a real predicament in actually inserting one of the windows, because
it collides with some bit of interior structure; and I suppose the ultimate delight
is that they’ve actually switched the windows to open the other way
round. The more I look at it, the more wonderful it seems; I mean it’s very inventive,
and also stubborn, which is a characteristic of the street. No matter
how stupid it is they wouldn’t say “Actually we won’t have one there,” or shift
the rhythm, they just carry on in this willful way.
I am in the process of gathering up all the adjectives, and perhaps
imperatives to be found in the Cally, such as Trust and Hot. There’s a President
motor company and a Paradise grocers and the clean is quick and it’s
the Caledonian Superstore. Although you will find these elsewhere, I think
there is a kind of collective knowledge on this street, of trying for selfelevation.
THE JEWELLERS AND PAWNBROKERS
As far as I can remember the sign has always only had one golden ball, and
it’s funny how everyone comprehends it. I don’t think it’s part of any comedy;
everybody just understands it’s supposed to have three, and it’s only got one.
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